With the current explosion of information available to a computer user, it has become increasingly difficult to keep the information organized and available to the user. This is particularly true when the user also uses the computer to obtain information and to accomplish other computer tasks at the same time. For example, a user may wish to write a document in a word processing application or a spreadsheet application but may also wish to receive information simultaneously. If a user is working in the word processing application, for example, the application window of the word processing program obscures other applications that may be displayed on the display. This impedes access to the other information that might have been displayed on the display. As a result, the user loses access to the desired information.
This problem is heightened when the information sought is dynamic information that might be subject to frequent changes. Some examples of such information include weather conditions in any of a variety of locations, obtaining the time, sports scores, breaking news events, stock quotes, traffic information, or mass transit status updates, to name a few. For example, a user may be working in a word processing application but still may wish to receive continuous updates on traffic conditions, particularly if the user plans to go out on the roads in the near future. However, the displayed word processing application window may cover the traffic information on the display making the traffic information inaccessible to the user. As such, the user cannot make his travel plans ahead of time without first having to either close and open windows or at least rearrange windows on the desktop. This would be a time-consuming task for the user.
In addition, there is a limited amount of space on the display such that with multiple types of desired information, screen space would rapidly become depleted. The window of an application that the user is currently using would very likely obscure at least some of the application windows providing the desired information. For example, a user may wish to receive traffic updates, stock quote information on selected securities, and weather information. However, while working in a word processing application, for example, the desired traffic, stock and weather information would be obscured behind the active window. Thus, the user would not be apprised of the latest traffic or weather information and would be unprepared for the conditions outside or on the road. Likewise, the user would not be apprised of the price of his selected securities or other requested information. This might lead to losses in his stock portfolio, among other things.